Guide for carpenters&#39; planes



AP1'il 6, 1954 R. R. BRATToN 2,674,285

GUIDE FOR CARPENTERS PLANES Filled Dec. 7, 1951 Patented Apr. 6, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUIDE FORl CARPENTERS PLANES Roy R. Bratton, Edwardsville, Kans. Application December 7, 1951, Serial No. 260,447

2 Claims. l

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in guides for carpenters planes, and is an improvement over` the device disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 179,683, filed August 16, 1950.

Said prior application, broadly, contemplated the use of a clamp adapted to be attached to the sole plate of a carpenters jack plane, and a cylindrical roller carried rotatably by said clamp, the axis of said roller extending downwardly from said sole plate at right angles thereto. Thus when the roller was held in contact with the face of a board, the plane was positioned to finish the edge of said board accurately at right angles tothe board face. The principal object of this invention is the provision of further means whereby the board edge may be bevelled accurately at any desired angle to the board face.

In all devices of this type within my knowledge, the guiding of the plane is accomplished by adjusting the angle of the roller axis relative to the sole plate of the plane. This arrangement has the serious disadvantage that it requires the plane to be held manually accurately in alignment with the edge of the board, since any rotation of the plane about the roller axis will vary the angle of the sole plate relative to the board edge being planed, and this would result in an inaccurate bevel. Also, with such an arrangement, any slight turning of the plane about the roller axis results in a tilting, and raising or lowering, of the plane blade, relative to the surface being planed, and this results in an uneven skipping or choppy cut. This invention, on the other hand, contemplates the maintaining of the roller axis rigidly at right angles to the sole plate, and the use of a tapered or conical roller to provide the desired angularity, whereby the above objections are obviated.

Another object is the provision, in a device of the character described, of a tapered or conical roller comprising two or more axially spaced apart sections, said sections being narrow in a, direction parallel to the axis thereof and being independently rotatable, whereby said roller may be caused to roll in a straight line parallel to the edge of the board being planed.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, eiiiciency and dependability of operation, and adaptability to produce a bevel of any desired degree.

With these objects in view, as Well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the drawingwherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carpenters jack plane of standard design, with a guide embodying the present invention attached in operative position thereto.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts as shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line III-III of Fig. 2, showing the device in operation relationship to a board.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the guide attachment taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional View taken on line V--V of Fig. 3.

Figures 6 and 7 are side elevational views of additional tapered rollers adapted for use with the guide, said rollers being identical except for the angles of taper thereof.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numeral 2 applies to a carpenters plane of standard type having a frame or stock Il comprising an elongated planar sole plate 6 with upstanding flanges 3 along the longitudinal edges thereof. Said frame carries a blade or iron I0 which projects downwardly through a slot l2 formed transversely in said sole plate whereby to remove a shaving from a board as said sole plate is moved thereover. Said plane is ordinarily manipulated by a front handle i4 and a rear handle i6 securely afxed to the upper surface of sole plate 6. The remainder of the plane is of well-known construction and need not be described herein in detail.

The guide l 8 forming the subject matter of this invention includes a C-clamp 2B having an upper arm 22 and a lower arm 24. Said clamp is adapted to embrace the edge portion of sole plate t, as best shown in Fig. 3, the lower arm 24 thereof resting against the lower surface of the sole plate. The upper surface of arm 24 is cut away to provide an elongated bearing area 26 and a relatively restricted bearing area 28 for contacting the sole plate. Bearing areas 26 and 28 are spaced apart transversely of the sole plate, and are milled for accuracy. A screw 3!) is threaded through upper arm 22 of the C-clamp at right angles to the plane of bearing areas 26 and 28, and. is provided at its lower end with a substantially spherical knob 32 on which a foot 34 is mounted for universal pivotal movement. Said screw is manually operable by means of a rod 36 inserted slidably in a hole 38 formed transversely through the upper end portion thereof. Foot 34 engages the upper surface of sole plate 6 to hold the clamp nrmly in position. It will be noted in Figs. 3 and 4 that foot 34 is disposed substantially centrally between bearing surfaces 25 and 28 of lower clamp arm 2d. The disposition of bearing surfaces 26 and 28, and the relationship of screw it thereto, provided that the clamp will always be positioned positively with surfaces 26 and 28 against the lower surface of the sole plate. Any irregularities of the upper surface of said sole plate, or non-parallelism between the upper and lower surfaces thereof, will be compensated for by the pivotal foot 34.

Formed integrally with the lower arm 24 of clamp 20 and extending downwardly therefrom is a cylindrical stub axle 40, disposed accurately at right angles to the plane of bearing surfaces 26 and 28. A tapered roller 42 is carried rotatably on said axle. Said roller comprises a tubular sleeve `44 rotatable on said axle, a wheel having a tapered or conical shape. The peripheral edges of wheels 46 and 48 are vbevelled so as to lie in the conical surface. Roller 42 is releasably retained on axle 4D by means of a pair of detent balls 54 carried in a bore 56 formed transversely through said axle. A- compression spring 58 disposed between said balls urges them outwardly to engage in an internal peripheral groove 60 formed in sleeve 46. Thus sleeve 48 can rotate freely on the axle, and can be removed axially therefrom by pulling downwardly thereon with some force. Sleeve 44 is provided at its upper end with an internal chamber 62 whereby to cam balls 54 inwardly to permit easy mounting of the roller on the axle. Aflixed to clamp 20 by means of a screw l64 is a handle 66. handle is shaped to form a convenient hand grip, and extends downwardly and outwardly to a point substantially opposite the midpoint of roller 42, for a purpose hereinafter appearing.

The operation of the device is substantially as follows: C-clamp 20 is affixed to sole plate 6 of plane 2, as shown, preferably as closely adjacent slot I2 as practical. The plane is then positioned relative to a board 68 as shown in Fig. 3, the sole plate resting against the edge of the board while wheels 46 and 48 of roller 42 ride against the face of the board. The operator then grasps the rear handle I6 and handle 66 of the guide attachment, and moves the plane in the usual manner, exerting a pressure on Said L handle 66 toward the face of the board to maintain the roller against the board. The line of pressure exerted on handle 66 will fall between wheels 146 and 48, insuring that both wheels will beheld against the board. In this manner the edge of the board may be bevelled very accurately, the angle of bevel being equal to the generating angle of the conical surface of roller 42. It is contemplated that 42 will be sold in sets, each roller having a taper angle equal tothe angle of bevel desired. In most carpentry work, there are relatively few different bevel angles in common use, and such a set of rollers would not be unduly extensive. Figs. 6 and 7 show respectively rollers 42a and 42h, which are identicaly with roller 42 except that they have different degrees of taper. The parts thereof are designated by the same numerals applied to roller 42, with subscripts a and b added thereto.

Since the axis ofroller 42 (axle 4U) remains at all times at right angles to sole plate 6, it isevident that the plane may be pivoted freely about said axle, relative to board 68 without changing the angle of said sole plate relative to the edge surface of the board. Said pivoting is commonly used by carpenters to obtain the desired shearing angle of the blade l0 relative to its direction of travel. Also, said pivoting is virtually unavoidable in practice, at least to a degree, since aman cannot hold a plane perfectly in alignment. If axle 40 were angled relative to the sole plate, even a slight pivotal movement of the plane thereabout would result in a change of the bevelling angle, and would cause uneven or choppy cutting.

It will be noted further that since wheels 46 and y48 are independently rotatable relative to axle 4D, they turn at different speeds and permit the roller. to roll in a straight line on the board, parallel to the edge of the board. A solid conical roller would not normally roll in a straight line, and could be forced to do so only by considerable slippage against the face of the board. In'the present case, a solid roller would have a constant tendency to lift the plane away from the board, and would be objectionable. To heighten this effect, the faces of wheels 46 and 48 are made as narrow as they practically may be and still not groove or mark the face of the board objectionally. A greater number of wheels on each roller couldbe usedto provide a greater bearing area, but this is considered within the scope of the present invention. Also, the wheels, or sleeve 44, could be provided with roller or ball bearings, and other means could be provided for mounting the roller removably on the axle, or for attaching the axle to the plane.

These and other minor changes of structure or operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: l

1. A guide adapted to be used with a carpentersplane having a planar sole plate and a blade extending downwardly through a slot formed in said sole plate, said guide comprising a clamp4 adapted to be secured rigidly to r said sole plate, an axle carried rigidly by said clamp so as to extend downwardly at right angles from said sole plate, and a tapered roller carried removably on said axle, said roller comprising a pluralityl o f independently rotatable, axially spaced apart wheels of graduated diameters. y

2. A guideadapted to be used with a carpenters plane having a planar sole plate and a blade extending downwardly through a slot formed in said sole plate, said guide comprising a clamp adapted to be secured rigidly to said sole plate', an axle carried rigidly by said clamp so as to extend downwardly at right angles from said sole plate, and a tapered roller carried in said axle, said'roller comprising a sleeve mounted for rotation on said axle, a first wheel concentric with and 4rigidly attached to said sleeve. and a second wheel carried rotatably on said sleeve in axially spaced apart relation from said first wheel, said wheels being of different diameters.

. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Newmann et al. Dec. '16, 1941` 

